“Carolwhat am I doing here?”

“You’re ok Tina. Just a nasty bump on your head. You fainted about an hour ago and bumped your head on the floor pretty hard.

“I fainted? Why?”

Carol was momentarily speechless. She was nervous about telling Tina what was going on with Larry. She knew that Tina had an anxiety problem and feared an attack would follow the news.

“I think I can answer that for you Tina.” Doctor Lanerd had entered the room resting an understanding hand on Carol’s shoulder.

“Ms. Gilliam, could you excuse Tina and I for a few moments. I’d like to talk to Tina alone.” He motioned for the door as Carol willingly complied with the nurse in tow.

“Tina, I was introducing myself to you earlier. I am Dr. Lanerd. I am here to evaluate your father’s condition to determine whether he should be moved immediately or not.”

“Moved to where? What condition? Please, I need answers!” Tina pleaded.

“LA Medical Center. Tina your father has been diagnosed with bone cancer. I’m unsure of what stage he is in without further testing. Apparently your father has had it for some time but was mis-diagnosed. It’s common in smaller hospitals due to a lack of experienced professionals.”

Tina was momentarily stunned, she began to cry softly as Dr. Lanerd handed her a tissue and rested his hand on hers.

“TinaI assure you, your father will receive the best care available and you will all have answers very soon. You can see him as soon as you feel ok.”

“I want to see him now. Please, I need to see him.”

“Sure, let me help you up. I’ll take you to his room.”

Dr. Lanerd helped Tina out of the hospital bed and held her arm as he guided down the hallway to the ward she had arrived at earlier. She passed several rooms with patients that were in various conditions hooked up to all sorts of machines. She winced everytime she passed a room hoping that despite his diagnosis her father at lease looked better. As she approached the room she could hear him speaking to the nurse sounding somewhat flirtatious and before she could even see him she had already begun to smile. As she rounded the corner of his door he suddenly turned and looked up at Tina smiling from ear to ear. She was taken back by all of the tubes and wires that seemed to all be connected to him somewhere. She looked at all of the monitors beeping and flashing and desparately tried to stifle the tears that were about to fall.